


Wireline

by AmuletStormfall



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Family, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 15:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13573875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmuletStormfall/pseuds/AmuletStormfall
Summary: “Brainy and I did a similar thing against Computo, once.” - Supergirl 3x12.Mon-El tries to talk to Querl after the Legion defeats Computo.





	Wireline

Mon-El had heard from the others that it was bad, but he didn’t know it was  _this_ bad. 

Querl’s lab was always  _messy._ He often had three or four experiments running across the lab at once, so all the lab benches were generally fully occupied. Today they seemed eerily spotless, as if one had wanted to remove any trace of evidence that anything had ever been there at all. What seemed stranger was that Querl was sitting on top of one of the benches; Querl would usually have an absolute fit anyone was to even try that.

“If you’ve come to try and conduct any form of psychotherapy on me, I’m afraid to inform you that it’s not needed,” Querl muttered, still looking down at his hands. Mon-El looked at them too. Instead of the tight triangle of each fingertip being pressed against each other that Querl so often took to making, his hands rested on his knees, palms upwards and fingertips curled slightly; the way Querl was looking at them, it was as if he had been holding something and that somehow disappeared.

“Ayla and Lyle said they’d come to talk to you and that you practically cursed them out of the lab.” Mon-El approached his friend cautiously, feeling that any sudden movement could cause an unwanted response. “Said that you were ‘more aggravated’ than usual.”

“They don’t know what they’re talking about,” Querl said, dismissively. “Not that you should be taken aback by that.”

“Right,” Mon-El nodded, choosing to ignore the last part of his comment. “I think we still need to have a talk.”

“A talk?” A slight pause. Querl then looked up to meet Mon-El’s eyes. “I presume that you would like to talk about our recent battle with Computo?”

“Well, I - “

“Then I do not think that there is any further value of you being here, as I have already had this conversation with both Ayla and Lyle.”

“But – “

 “However, I am aware that you will most likely not depart immediately, so I will answer the comments and queries that are likely to arise. Firstly,  _yes,_ I am alright. No, I do not feel any resentment towards you for being the one to shoot down Computo. Again, yes, I am alright. I am  _not_ displaying irregular behaviour. I do not regret creating Computo, though I did not wish for things to have turned out this way. Computo attacked the Legion thus I have no remorse for his demise. And for the final time.” Querl got off the bench. “I am completely fine. If that is adequate, I would like you to leave.”

If there was one thing that Mon-El learnt over the years, it was that keeping things bottled up did not usually end well, and this seemed to be exactly what Brainiac 5 was doing. His stance emanated an air of defiance, much more prominent than his usual stubbornness. He most likely didn’t realise, but his eyes gave him away; there was a sorrow in them that Mon-El never thought he would see from the Coluan.

As he Legion’s leader, it was in his best interest to at least get Querl to function properly again. If any of their enemies were to attack right now, he didn’t think Querl would be up to guiding them through another crisis. However, as a friend, he did think that giving Querl a bit of space would be best for him. Even if he tried to stay and talk, he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could say that the other two Legionnaires hadn’t already tried. It was at times like this that he wished that Kara was around; she could get through to mostly anyone, be it friend or foe. No doubt she’d be able to reach Querl, he always had a million questions about her every time Mon-El brought her up.

Actually… that might work.

“You came pretty close but that’s not all I was going to say, so I can’t leave just yet, Brainy. I’m going to tell you a story from the time I spent with Supergirl,” Mon-El announced. “You’re going to listen, and that’s an order.”

He saw Querl’s jaw tighten, but his teammate said nothing. He knew that Querl was only humouring him by following his ‘order’ (and he knew this because Querl had gone against his orders many times). The intrigue of learning more about the Legion’s inspiration was more likely the cause of his compliance. He leaned back against the bench, and Mon-El followed suit, taking up the space just beside him.

“Kara had been adopted by humans when she first arrived, as I’ve probably mentioned before. Her adoptive parents were good people and she considered them family, but her adoptive father, Jeremiah Danvers, died on a mission for the D.E.O. It turns out that he wasn’t dead, and had been kept prisoner by Cadmus. I spent a bit of time as a captive of Cadmus too, by the way. Not a pretty place to be, gotta say. The food there was nasty, too.”

Mon-El’s attempt at a joke fell flat, as Brainiac 5 showed absolutely no change in his expression.

The leader cleared his throat, “Anyway, even though we found out that he was alive, we couldn’t rescue him right away. We eventually located him on another D.E.O mission. Everyone was over the moon that he was back – oh, ‘over the moon’ was a 21st century Earth expression for being extremely happy, back when they didn’t have an artificial moon. There was a party and everything. It seemed a bit too convenient, and I was suspicious of him. Kara and Alex weren’t too happy about that, I admit. He ended up stealing classified files from the D.E.O. and was working Cadmus to try and deport all aliens on Earth at the time.”

“Xenophobia existed back then too,” Querl observed, clicking his tongue.

“You’d think after a thousand years we’d be over that, but it was a lot worse in that time. Who knows, it might still be that bad if we hadn’t stopped the deportation. Which we did, and Jeremiah seemed to have regretted having his part in the plan, but he was taken by Cadmus again and I had to leave Earth before I learned what happened after that. What I do know, though, is that what he did do was to try and protect Kara and Alex. His intentions were good, but the way he went about it was all wrong. Neither of the sisters wanted him to do it for them, and even though they were family they couldn’t control his actions. I’m sure it still hurt that they couldn’t do anything about it, and they might have blamed themselves for it. It was never their fault, of course…”

“If you’re quite finished, might I ask what the point was of telling me that story?” Querl asked, still not looking impressed. “I fail to see its relevance to…anything, really.”

“I mean, right, okay maybe that was a bit long-winded and maybe I rambled on a bit too much, but the point is that you can’t blame yourself for things that your family has done,” said Mon-El.

“I don’t. What the original Brainiac did is his business. I assure you that I do not feel any responsibility about his actions, or at least not anymore. I believe that we’ve discussed _this_ matter before, though I don’t see what Brainiac has to do with anything – ”

“No, Brainy, I’m talking about Computo.”

“As I said, I fail to see the relevance to your story to the incident with Computo,” Querl reiterated, though he seemed to falter slightly.

It was then that it occurred to Mon-El why Ayla and Lyle may not have managed to get through. They probably hadn’t heard what Computo had said, since they didn’t have the super-hearing that Mon-El possessed. Querl must have received the message through a digital communication and not realised that it had been said verbally, as well. He had not realised that anyone else knew of the message.

“Computo said something just before I shot him down. ’I am sorry. Thank you for everything, Father.’ I think those were his last words, right?” Mon-El studied Querl’s face, awaiting a reaction.

Brainiac 5 stiffened up.“They…were. Very inexplicable last words, in my opinion. I was not Computo’s ‘father’. I was his _creator,_ Mon-El.” It seemed like he was trying to convince himself, more than anything.

“I remember you saying that parts of his design had incorporated some of your own circuitry,” Mon-El reminded. “You were proud of Computo.”

When Querl had first completed creating the mechanical assistant, he displayed even more arrogance than usual. He was quick to try and prove just how useful Computo would be to the team. For a long time, Computo had served the Legion well. Querl was always trying to improve Computo, to make him more intelligent, to speed up his processors. He might have done too good of a job. The Legion realised too late that Computo had grown its own warped sense of justice and was tired of them, eventually, thinking he was due for much grander schemes. Querl was convinced that he could fix Computo, that he could remove whatever part of his program that was causing him to behave like this, but he had been blocked at every turn. When Computo launched a full-scale attack on the Legion, they had no choice but to fight back.

They had all put Querl’s agitation off to being bitter about having failed to shut Computo down; after hearing Computo’s last words, Mon-El was sure that this wasn’t all. “You were proud of him…almost like a father would be to his child. And you’re blaming yourself, not because of a technical fault, but because he changed and betrayed you.”

Querl gave Mon-El a long hard stare before finally crossing his arms. “As I have already, said, I have no remorse in eliminating the threat. There…maybe be some truth to your hypothesis, however. I was linked to Computo in a few ways, and I could understand some parts of his motivations. Perhaps if I tried to further understand him, I would have been able to prevent his behaviour, true. I do not think I held any sort of familial bond for him, though. That would be illogical, he is an invention that I had created, nothing more and nothing less.”

“Say that all you want, Brainy, but at the very least Computo saw you as a father. I have a feeling he wouldn’t have got that idea if you hadn’t treated him like your own.” It wasn’t something Mon-El had paid too much attention to at the time, but looking back at it, Querl had definitely been fond of Computo. He displayed more respect and connection to Computo than to some of his teammates.

“…Sometimes I feel like I am misunderstood by the other Legionnaires. Thus, I suppose I might have confided in him, ideas that I thought perhaps the others would not have comprehended. It was satisfying that I did not have to slow down or to explain the concepts I had in mind to great lengths. I wouldn’t go as far as a familial bond but there may have been some form of…intellectual kinship.” Braniac 5 sighed. “If you’re still adamant on suggesting that there was something more emotional…I’ll have to further evaluate if that is the case.”

That was probably the closest thing to ‘I don’t know’ that Mon-El has heard from Querl so far. While it didn’t look like Querl had calmed down completely, the tense aura that had permeated the room seemed gone and the Coluan seemed more pensive than anything. It looked like Querl was going to think about the situation now, without simply denying the possibility of that he had indeed been affected emotionally.

“I’ll leave you to ‘evaluate’ it then.” Mon-El thought that this would be a good time to depart, feeling it alright for Querl to be left to his own devices. “Whatever you find, Brainy, just remember that you did your best. And…you can rely on us a bit more, you know.”

As he turned to leave, Querl called out, “What did Supergirl do after the situation with her adoptive father?”

Mon-El looked back and smiled. “It was hard for her at first but with the help of her friends and family, she continued to be Supergirl. She continued to be the hero that her city needed her to be.”

“Right.”

As the doors to Querl’s lab closed behind him, Mon-El thought he might have heard a ‘thank you’. 

* * *

 

 

It was slightly strange to be in Kara’s loft again, after all this time. He was thankful that they had managed to move past most of the awkwardness enough that he could be back here, though. He was currently standing by the kitchen countertop trying to help Imra, who had been practicing the skill of using cutlery and not quite succeeding. He had to explain that it was also acceptable to use your hands when eating pizza.

Querl was sat with Kara and Alex on the sofa. Alex was recounting a few stories from her childhood with Kara. Querl listened attentively while Kara laughed at the more embarrassing parts.

“We were quite the handful,” Kara said, amused. “I don’t know how many soccer balls we lost when I accidentally kicked them too far.”

“Dad would go nuts, he would sit you down and have to explain to you how playing soccer was becoming a hazard,” Alex recalled. “It was fun though, I’ll definitely teach my kids to play soccer.”

Kara laughed. “Ooh, might need to get yourself some practice first, though.”

“Hey, I wasn’t _that_ bad at soccer.”

“Were too,” Kara teased. “Actually, now that you mention it, I can totally see you being a soccer mum.”

“Soccer is a…sport of some kind?” Querl questioned.

“Yes, it is, Brainy. We should show you how to play sometime. Hey, I’ve got an idea!” Kara turned to Alex. “You can practice by teaching it to Brainy!”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Alex mused. “I have a feeling Brainy might be a fast learner. Kids might be harder to handle.”

“Children are indeed quite difficult to educate,” Querl agreed. “It took me a whole half hour to perfectly program Computo to communicate to the Legion omnicons by himself.”

The Danver sisters exchanged a look of confusion.

“There are children in the Legion?” asked Kara.

“No, no, not usually,” Querl explained quickly, waving his hands around. “Computo was an exception.”

Kara relaxed, then. “Was it like a ‘take-your-kids’ to work kind of thing, then?”

“We do have those, but Computo lived in my lab.”

“Wait, wait. He lived in your lab?” Alex eyebrows were raised. “His parents let him live in your lab?”

“Of course, he had lived there since the day his conception.”

“What? So this kid lived in the lab all his life? Where were his parents?”

The question seemed to puzzle Querl. “What do you mean? I was right in the lab too with him most of the time.”

“You’re a dad?” Kara covered her mouth after the exclamation came out. Alex, on the other hand, had her mouth dropped open.

“Yes, in a manner of speaking.” Querl caught Mon-El’s eyes. “We do not share a bloodline; however, we did have an emotional kinship.”

“Emotional kinship,” Kara repeated, a soft smile on her face.

Querl excused himself, declaring himself to be famished and in the mood to try out the ‘delicacies’ of the 21st century. Mon-El wondered if it was to avoid going deeper into the topic, though with the way Querl was staring at the pizza, maybe he was just hungry.

“You never did tell me when you were done evaluating,” Mon-El said quietly.

“I did not think I was, until now,” Querl admitted, looking a bit surprised at himself.

Mon-El ruffled the top of Querl’s white-hair affectionately, making it even more of a wild mess. A while ago, Querl might have snapped at this action; it seemed like he was now accustomed to it. “If you ever want to talk about it again, I’m here.”

“Surely not. I would have to be quite desperate to seek out advice from you, especially regarding parenthood, Mon-El.” Querl smirked.

“Wow, just had to ruin it,” said Mon-El. “I’d be a great dad, right Imra?”

“Mm, well…I’d give it a few more years,” said Imra, still mostly pre-occupied with her pizza. “I have my doubts after the hypothetical baby names you came up with.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Legionnaires.”

“Our pleasure,” said Querl.

The Coluan proceeded to ask Imra to show him the technique of how pizza was eaten, and she was eager to show off her new-found knowledge of that skill.

Watching the two, Mon-El once again appreciated how fortunate he was himself, to have found companionship with them. He knew that he had a family with the Legion, a place to belong…

“This is a lot more delightful than I had anticipated.” Querl looked up at Mon-El, bright-eyed. ”You were not exaggerating in your description of pizza. An excellent recommendation.”

…and it may have taken a while but he had the feeling that Querl felt the same way.

**Author's Note:**

> My plans always change, seeing as how this ended up being almost 3000 words long when all I wanted was to write a very short piece. Also never thought I'd ever write from Supergirl's Mon-El's perspective but here we are. I'm not so attached to Mon-El from the show but I'm liking him more after the time-skip. Legion interactions make me like anything better though, so not surprised, haha. Am rooting for his leadership to make him shine, since the show seems adamant on keeping his powers nerfed. Also wanted to write telepathic Imra but the show is not giving me telepathic Imra so I held back. 'Emotional kinship' however, was a blessed line from the show-writers and I thank them and will probably overuse it a lot.
> 
> This Computo probably follows Reboot story more, though clearly, the events would be different for Mon-El and Brainy to be able to shoot him down. I was just going to make this a sad-piece but my hands continued writing and Brainy is happier now. Yay! I also see the Legion being in Supergirl before Computo makes his 'I'm-not-dead-lol' reappearance, so Computo gets his redemption later on. More, yay! ...Damn, and now I want to reread the Computo arc from The Legion. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
